Program Manager II - Emergencies

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Background

CRS has been supporting program activities in Benin since 1958 and has long-standing relationships with Church and non-Church partners and communities throughout the country. The Benin country program has a diverse funding base with projects in agriculture, nutrition, education, digital health, microfinance (SILC), and emergency response, partnership capacity strengthening and local leadership as well as peacebuilding and social cohesion. CRS/Benin currently has over 84 national and 5 international staff. The main office is in Cotonou with a project office in Parakou.

CRS has been supporting program activities in Togo since 1958 and has long-standing relationships with church and non-church partners, the host government, and local communities in all regions of the country. CRS Togo's program has a growing funding base with projects in education, nutrition, community microfinance and social cohesion. The main office is in Lomé and a large sub-office in Kara.

Job Summary:

The Program Manager (PM) II – Emergencies will provide technical advice and support to a range of program design and implementation issues in the area of Benin and Togo’s emergency response activities in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practice. His/Her advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ Benin/Togo emergency preparedness and programming is across the country. She/he will help with the mobilization of resources for humanitarian preparedness and responses, supporting and at times leading business development proposals for emergency projects, as a proposal coordinator or writer. The PM II– Emergencies’ skills and knowledge will ensure that the CP and CRS’ partners delivers high-quality emergency response programming, deliberate learning, and continuously works towards improving the impact of the work they do to improve the lives of the most vulnerable.

Job Responsibilities:

• Support the development and lead the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in emergency response that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Assume direct support, management, or leadership role during emergency responses via remote or on-site secondment to participating organizations, as needed/requested.
• Provide technical solutions to Country Program (CP), remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission, and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities, and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support with the creation of high-quality reports, success stories, and other documentation of CRS Benin and Togo’s emergency response work.
• Lead capacity-strengthening initiatives in emergency response programming for staff and partners by helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting training and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture, and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the emergency response learning agenda.
• Manage and mitigate safeguarding and protection risks. Ensure all staff and partner organizations understand and adhere to CRS protection, code of conduct, and safeguarding policies and procedures. Ensure protection, gender, and conflict sensitivity are mainstreamed throughout project design and implementation.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions, and participate in forums in the area of emergency response to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Where appropriate, represent CRS in working group meetings, humanitarian coordination meetings, and national events.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with the ability to make sound judgments.
• Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with culturally diverse groups. Ability to influence and relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to draft reports and proposals.
• Ability to work independently and drive agendas and manage activities with little support

Required/Desired Foreign Language: Written and spoken fluency in English and French is required.

Travel Required: 50% travel to the field offices and emergency response projects in Benin and Togo

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships

Internal: Program Quality Manager, CRS Togo/Benin Head of Programs, Operations staff, Parakou (Benin) field office staff, Kara (Togo) field office staff. Emergency Program Quality, and Management CARO Focal Point, Humanitarian Response Department technical advisors

External: Diocesan Caritas staff, national and field-level staff from the Office of the Prime Minister, national and field-level UN Agencies, Central and Local Government, refugee community leadership, implementing local and international NGO staff.

Basic Qualifications

• A Master's Degree in International Development, International Relations or another related field is required. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in emergency response.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in emergency response, especially market-based programming. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Project management experience in emergency response, cash programming experience is desirable.
• Experience engaging building the capacity of partner organizations, including to serve in leadership roles, preferably in emergency situations. Knowledge of church networks and Caritas Internationalis is highly preferred.
• Experience contributing to project design and the development of technical proposals and high-quality reports.

Preferred Qualifications

• Comfortable working and engaging with a variety of staff in a remote work context. Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, and information management systems.
• Experience with program monitoring, evaluation, and analysis.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Job Responsibilities:

• Support the development and lead the implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in emergency response that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Assume direct support, management, or leadership role during emergency responses via remote or on-site secondment to participating organizations, as needed/requested.
• Provide technical solutions to Country Program (CP), remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
• Contribute to, and in some cases lead, the development of the technical design for proposals. Support the process of preparation, design, submission, and approval of project concepts and full-fledged proposals. As needed, act as a technical writer on proposal development teams. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities, and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
• Support with the creation of high-quality reports, success stories, and other documentation of CRS Benin and Togo’s emergency response work.
• Lead capacity-strengthening initiatives in emergency response programming for staff and partners by helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting training and workshops, and coaching.
• Collect and analyze program data, capture, and share lessons learned and best practices for specific projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the emergency response learning agenda.
• Manage and mitigate safeguarding and protection risks. Ensure all staff and partner organizations understand and adhere to CRS protection, code of conduct, and safeguarding policies and procedures. Ensure protection, gender, and conflict sensitivity are mainstreamed throughout project design and implementation.
• Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions, and participate in forums in the area of emergency response to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.
• Where appropriate, represent CRS in working group meetings, humanitarian coordination meetings, and national events.

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic Qualifications

• A Master's Degree in International Development, International Relations or another related field is required. Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in emergency response.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in emergency response, especially market-based programming. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Project management experience in emergency response, cash programming experience is desirable.
• Experience engaging building the capacity of partner organizations, including to serve in leadership roles, preferably in emergency situations. Knowledge of church networks and Caritas Internationalis is highly preferred.
• Experience contributing to project design and the development of technical proposals and high-quality reports.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability
• Acts with Integrity
• Collaborates with Others
• Builds and Maintains Trust
• Open to Learn
• Strategic Mindset
• Develops and Recognizes Others

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS´s talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

ABOUT US

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

ABOUT THE TEAM

CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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